Department of Homeland Security officials said that they are releasing immigrants held in detention centers because of the government's pending mandated budget cuts known as sequestration.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which runs the immigrant detention centers, said in a statement Tuesday that it does not know how many of the immigrants will be released under the new policy.

REPORTER

Diana Washington Valdez

Leticia Zamarripa, spokeswoman for ICE in El Paso, said the two ICE detention facilities in the region can hold up to 1,639 people.

"The capacity for the El Paso Processing Center on Montana is 785, and the capacity for the Otero Processing Center in Chaparral, N.M., is 854," Zamarripa said.

ICE officials said federal prosecutors can exercise discretion in determining which immigrants may be released and how they are to be monitored.

Department of Homeland Security officials said that Congress requires the department to maintain 34,000 inmate beds, but that potential budget cuts will make that requirement economically unsustainable.

The White House asked for about $1.96 billion for immigration detention operations in the previous budget.

Advertisement

"As fiscal uncertainty remains over the continuing resolution and possible sequestration, ICE has reviewed its detained population to ensure detention levels stay within ICE's current budget," said Gillian Christensen, spokeswoman for ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C.

"Over the last week, ICE has reviewed several hundred cases and placed these individuals on methods of supervision less costly than detention.

"All of these individuals remain in removal proceedings. Priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety."

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., issued a swift response criticizing the Department of Homeland Security's plan to release people who are pending immigration proceedings.

"There is no logical or rational reason why the 5.3 percent cut to ICE's operating budget would have to result in forcing law officers to immediately release already-apprehended illegal aliens and fugitives in federal detention," Sessions said in a statement. "The last thing you would do to meet a budget cut of this size would be to voluntarily undertake actions that undermine the rule of law and endanger the public safety.

"It is clear the administration is using the sequester as a convenient excuse to bow to political pressure from the amnesty groups, as it did with its unilateral decision to confer legal status on millions who are not lawfully present," Sessions said.

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, said that the sequestration cuts are to be carried out across the board and that agencies do not have any discretion or options on how to apply them. He said he supports proposed legislation that would provide the administration the authority to decide how best to apply the reductions.

"This is a result of the sequester," O'Rourke said. "I've been doing anything I can to avert the drastic cuts. Whether it's ICE or Customs and Border Protection officers being furloughed, the consequences are going to be negative for El Paso."

According to The Associated Press, she also warned that the DHS might not be able to afford to keep the 34,000 immigration detention beds mandated by Congress.

"I don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester as without sequester," Napolitano said.

According to the National Immigration Forum, it costs the government about $164 a day to keep an undocumented immigrant facing deportation in detention. That is much more than the cost for supervised release, which can range from 30 cents to $14 a day, the advocacy organization said.

Today, O'Rourke and other community leaders from El Paso will have a news conference in Washington, D.C., to argue against conditioning comprehensive immigration reform on border security.

Several lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives have said they will not support comprehensive immigration reform unless the border is made secure, but without defining what secure means. Others oppose including a pathway to permanent legal residency or citizenship.

"It's great that El Paso is going to give its perspective on this most important issue of the day," O'Rourke said. "After sitting today (Tuesday) on the DHS Committee's Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security hearing 'To Examine What Constitutes a Secure Border,' I can say what a secure border looks like -- it looks like El Paso, the safest city in the nation."

The freshman legislator from El Paso also noted that San Diego, another border community, was rated the second-safest U.S. city after El Paso.

O'Rourke said Kevin McAleenan, Customs and Border Protection acting assistant commissioner, Office of Field Operations, said in testimony at Tuesday's hearing that the border is as safe as it's ever been.

During the hearing, which can be viewed on a C-Span video, O'Rourke told the hearing panel that the fate of nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants, millions of dollars in trade with Mexico, and El Paso's future depend on defining what makes up a secure border.

Statistics compiled by the FBI indicated that crime is lower in U.S. border cities than in many cities in the country's interior.

O'Rourke said in the hearing that what is hurting El Paso's economy are the long wait times at border crossings.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.